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Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between health literacy (HL) and medication adherence (MA) of patients who presented at the INR outpatient clinic with a history of warfarin usage.
Methods: In the study, 173 patients over the age of 18 years who were being followed up at the INR outpatient clinic of Bursa Yuksek Ihtisas Training and Research Hospital between October 2022 and April 2023 and were using warfarin were evaluated. All the cases were evaluated with the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) Scale, and an MA scale.
Results: It was found that only 43.4% of the cases using warfarin had an adequate HL level. Only 11.6% of the cases using warfarin showed high compliance with the use of the drug. There was a significant positive relationship between the NVS scores and MA scores of the patients (r=0.555, p<0.001). Cases with a bleeding history had statistically significantly lower mean scores of NVS (p<0.001) and MA (p<0.001). In addition, the mean INR scores in patients with a bleeding history was also statistically significantly higher (p<0.001). MA (p<0.001), INR values (p=0.009), and education (p=0.012) were variables with an effect on an increased risk of bleeding.
Conclusion: There is a relationship between HL and MA in cases using warfarin. It was observed that cases with a history of bleeding were patients with high INR values, worse HL, and low MA. It may be valuable for physicians to evaluate the HL and MA in patients using warfarin in order to identify patients at high risk of bleeding.
